Today candidates for the presidency in Mexico have to be very careful about how they express themselves in public, at least until July 2012, when presidential elections will be held. Any mistake or declaration that could be misinterpreted, can push away voters during this election year.

Josefina Vázquez Mota, the only female candidate for the presidency, caused confusion and anger among Mexicans, especially university students, when she referred to the university where she obtained her Bachelor's degree, the Ibero-American University.

The incident happened at the Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico (ITAM), where she was speaking to students. In her speech she declared that her weakness was that she had studied Economics at “Ibero”: “No soy perfecta, estudié en la Ibero” (“I am not perfect, I studied at Ibero”.) Students from ITAM University immediately laughed and cheered.

During the keynote lecture given at the Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico (ITAM) Josefina Vázquez Mota said she was not perfect and that she studied a Bachelor's of Economics at the Ibero-American University. What is the presidential candidate's criteria to determine which college is better than another? Should that judgment influence the way in which she targets university students in the country?

It is clear that comments like these can hurt sensibilities, but also we must understand that amongst young people, this is the way they express themselves, the comment was meant to be a way to break the ice and connect with the audience. Could she have done it differently? Yes, that too.

Genaro Lozano, (@genarolozano) [es] a professor at both universities admitted that he would also make similar jokes at both institutions, just to make students feel more confident: